Martin E. Hellman

"For their invention of public-key cryptography to protect privacy on the Internet"

Presented by: Chairman Martin Meyerson of The Marconi Foundation; President John Jay Iselin of that foundation at Columbia University, New York City

Dr. Diffie and Professor Hellman developed public-key cryptography in 1976. This breakthrough, and the Diffie-Hellman algorithm for key exchange, allows secure transmission of information over the Internet. Dr. Diffie is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University and Professor Hellman is a Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University.